


Drawn To A Tamed Fire

by A_Shark_Named_Max



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: F/F, Gen, I love my girls being murder parents to the kiddos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-15 17:06:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18673885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Shark_Named_Max/pseuds/A_Shark_Named_Max
Summary: Sometimes when you're a badass ex-Vault Hunter and just a pretty cool junker, kids think you're awesome to hang out with.





	1. Tiny Tina

If Athena was at all bothered by the fact that she became interesting more or less to the resident kids of Sanctuary, she never showed it. While she could express frustration because answering nonsensical questions over and over again was really taxing, she was never was harsh; well harsh in the sense of how she treated anyone who wasn't Janey whenever they ticked her off.

Tina seem to be the one who hung around her the most, or was at least the loudest.

After being released, or less of a prisoner but still forced to stay in Sanctuary until Lilith deemed her "not a threat", Tina had showed up and asked for a story about a raid boss.

Whatever that was, so she told her about the Sentinel fight though she had to deal with Tina interrupting somewhat to jazz it up.

Annoying but, Athena wasn't so above it that she didn't get caught up in the theatrics herself, she was a little proud of when Tina declared it a good story.

She thought that would be the end of Tina's interest with her, but she came back much later during the day when the sun was starting to set and Athena was staring at the horizon from the window in her not cell, clutching the corpse jewelry she had been given to by Janey. Tina barged in the room with Brick trailing behind her, possibly to keep on eye on her like if she would ever harm a child, and asked for the entire Elpis story.

Considering Athena had spent most of the afternoon retelling it, she wasn't exactly in the mood to do it again. She really wanted to say no, wanted to have time to herself to think about what she could say to Janey and apologize for breaking her promise and lying.

She decided to put that on the back burner for now.

While the interruptions were annoying she didn't mind, though Tina asking whether or not she and Janey hooked up was… not ideal. Didn't stop her from high-fiving the kid, Athena tried to ignore the feeling of her burning face and sly faces she was receiving from both occupants of the room with her.

After being deemed a non-threat, Athena was allowed to roam around Sanctuary freely but still wasn't allowed to really leave which wasn't great because she still hadn't been able to contact Janey. Made worse because during her fight with Brick and Mordecai her echo had been more or less crushed flat, getting a word out to her to Hollow Point without endangering Janey because she still didn't trust Lilith or her vault hunters was practically impossibly, she would've asked Scooter but she hadn't seen him at all since she was brought to Sanctuary even after being released. So when Janey showed up, the custom Jakobs shotgun Athena had modded for her strapped to her back and Maliwan pistol in her hand, rushing out of Pierce Station and stopping short in front of Athena who was sitting in the square. Athena tried not to show her smug amusement over hearing Janey chew out Lilith for kidnapping her, though that joy was short lived.

The talk they had afterwards was... long needed and painful and it felt like days when it was only a few hours.

But by the end of it, Athena felt lighter and she could tell Janey was too.

It still scared her, the thought that she was giving so much of herself to one person. It was absolutely terrifying but also exhilarating, she loved Janey, knew for a long time that she did but admitting that to herself or out loud scared her because the reality of it could break whatever spell over their heads.

Athena really didn't want to wake up one day and find everything was just some weird elaborate delusion and she was still stuck in Atlas.

If anything happened to Janey, by her hand or by outside influences, she wouldn't know what to do. Athena wrapped her arms around her fiance as she slept, she could hear the residents of Hollow Point as they walked around and the Psychos yelling nonsense from within their home. It was strange to think after everything, that after everything that had happened that this is where she would end up.

Athena finally fell asleep, tucked into Janey's shoulder.

* * *

Janey had more or less forced her way into the Crimson Raiders' business, saying if they were gonna use Athena for their plans then she was coming with, no ifs ands or buts about it.

While Athena would rather keep Janey out of danger, especially something that was being described as a war, she wasn't gonna say no to it. Plus seeing how much Janey's presence intimidate the hell out of Lilith, it was just an added bonus for her.

Considering that Janey was now in Sanctuary, Tina practically died upon seeing her and embarrassed her to hell and back for yelling about how Athena scored a mega hottie.

She wasn't wrong, but still.

Janey loved Tina, she thought her enthusiasm was infectious and cute. So her hanging around them didn't bother her at all, though Athena wasn't sure what to make of Tina actually showing up in Hollow Point at their home or the garage, not at all bothered by the bandits or psychos roaming around.

Though it looked like they were avoiding and running away once they caught sight of her, Athena wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

So for awhile, Tina seem to just be there with them.

Sometimes she would show up at the garage while Janey was working or she would somehow be in their home when the door was clearly locked and Athena would be so annoyed because if Tina could break in then who else could? She couldn't help but be impressed by the kid's ability to bypass her own locks though.

Janey didn't seem to mind, which was more important if this was bothering her in anyway, Athena would do anything to make sure she was happy. But Tina endeared her, hell she was inspiring Janey to write again which took an unfortunate backseat when they moved to Pandora and were busy trying to build a stable life together.

Athena wasn't sure when it started to feel normal.

The realization of the situation occurred to her when one night Janey and her were in bed about to sleep and Tina, who had come over as she did nowadays, was there laying in between them already out cold and snoring.

Tina had skipped up to Athena and in her own cute way, demanded that they go and blow up Skag dens, why? She didn't really question it, trying to question Tina's motives was not worth the headache.

After about a few good explosions, letting Tina use a rocket launcher and asking her to not tell Janey about it, and also unintentionally blowing up a runner that was definitely not her fault and history be damned of Athena crashing moon zoomies means nothing, they had traveled back to Hollow Point. Janey had just finished up a custom job and was closing up the garage, they made their way back to their home with Tina in the middle and swinging their hands.

Dinner was lively with Tina exaggerating their day and reenacting some of it, food the unfortunate casualty. After that and a few episodes of some echo show that they just needed to watch because oh my god it's just so good, they decided to sleep.

It was odd that Tina even slept since she was someone who screamed energy, enough that she exhausted Athena by just listening to her even talk. Seeing her actually being still and quiet, it was fascinating and maybe she just couldn't help but reach over and tuck some of her hair back in place.

And maybe she didn't get embarrassed over Janey teasing her over it.

Tina was a good kid.


	2. Pickle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pickle is a my son.

Considering how close Pickle and Janey already were way before Athena had come into their lives on Elpis, she always felt like she was intruding.

Sometimes the kid would come all the way from Outlands Canyon to their apartment in Concordia, mostly to weasel a free meal from them which Janey was always happy to provide, it was obvious how much a soft spot the junker had for him. Though she would make sure to underline it with a cheery threat it with "dont steal our shit", cue smile and thumbs up.

Pickle would also ask for Athena's help in being muscle so he could get to places for scavenging or talking about finding hidden caches left behind by Dahl or the other occupants of Elpis prior to The Crackening. She didn't mind, being paid was a bonus next to being able to kill things.

And if Athena had to be honest, which you'll be dead before you even get the words out of her, maybe the kid sort of grew on her. It wasn't that she had any sort of soft spot for kids, Elpis had seldom let alone Pandora or Prometheus; plus kids were just rare in her line of work, past and present. Didn't matter what Janey said, just because whenever the rare moment children appeared in Concordia and for some reason just made a beeline towards her even if she was covered in drying Scav blood.

So maybe Pickle had grown on her, considering he was around enough with how often he dropped by or asked for her help and maybe when he echoed her one day during a mission, saying how he went snooping where he shouldn't and was in a bit of a "pickle". He laughed nervously but it was mostly drowned out by the gunfire and explosions in the background. Athena normally wouldn't just dropped a job while in the middle of it or ever really, she was a professional after all but none of that matter when she jumped on a moon zoomy and headed to the closest fast travel station.

She cleared out the Scavs pretty quickly once she found the place, most of them just ran when they saw her, she called out for Pickle and faintly heard a  _oyy_  from the backroom. The door had been busted and covered over by debris that had been thrown around from all the explosions, Athena wasted no time clearing it and getting through what was left of the door.

The room was completely turned over, the table and chairs and whatever was was inside was busted and burnt in some places; the only thing left standing was a locker that somehow escaped the chaos besides having some scorched marks. As she walked over to it, the door opened slowly and Pickle, she could see a crack in his helmet, shakily waved hi. Athena gently pulled him out, helped stand him up; and before she could ask him anything, he wrapped his arms around her waist.

She tentatively placed her hand on the top of his helmet, Athena could see fresh burn marks and grazes from stray bullets. She picked him up once she heard him start sniffling and carried him back to the Zoomy, quickly headed back to Concordia. Once they were back in Janey and hers' apartment, checking him over for any serious injuries, he seemed mostly just shook up and settled him into their bed and echoed Janey once he fell asleep.

It didn't take long for her girlfriend to arrive from the emporium, she filled her in on what had happened.

He stayed with them for a good awhile, enough that Nurse Nina joked how they U-Hauled so hard they adopted a son, Athena had to have that joke explained to her by Janey. She scoffed because the idea of it seemed so ridiculous, someone like her even remotely having something even resembling a family, Athena was lucky she somehow stumbled into being Janey's girlfriend; besides she would be a terrible parent.

Just because she went out of her way to spend time with Pickle, treating him to meals when cooking was convenient, even teaching him to shoot didn't mean anything. Janey was fond of him and Athena was fond of whatever Janey was fond of, it was only logical.

Yup, that was it. Nothing to deny here, Janey really needs to stop being so smug about it too.

* * *

With how things ended after the Vault of the Sentinel, Athena wasn't about to let Jack or Lilith and Roland find her and well blackmail her into whatever they thought she deserved, she knew she needed to go into hiding and fast.

And while Athena was more than willing to do whatever she could to keep Janey safe, she knew before she even could voice against it that Janey would come with her. She would do anything for her and Athena guessed that it was the same for Janey.

Which came the next hard part, explaining to Pickle how he couldn't come with them. Yet.

They needed to 1) Establish a safe place for them to live that couldn't get back to Jack or Lilith and Roland and 2) Get a job because basic needs and also rent needs to be paid even if they are in hiding.

Athena wasn't good at breaking bad news to people she actually liked, it was something she still struggled with Janey and she can only figure that it would probably be impossible or horrible if she tried on her own with Pickle. Which was why they both ended up going to Outlands Canyon to break the news to him, mostly it would be Janey doing the talking and Athena would fill in any needed details. Once she spotted him, Athena could feel her lose her nerve and she would have stumbled in her step if she was anyone else, but she just stopped and gripped the arm band connecting to Aspis, the cool metal giving some sense of relief for her.

She feels Janey's hand slide against the small of her back, comforting her. Athena looks up into the other woman's dark brown eyes, the warmth she saw reflected spread something deeply pleasant throughout her chest. As they walked up, they can see Pickle was busy pulling apart an old CB radio probably to sell the scrap bit; once their footsteps could be heard, Pickle whirled around and Athena could see his hand on a Jakobs pistol she had given him plus a caustic laser weapon nearby on the table, she could feel a small swell of pride that he was paying attention to her advice.

Pickle's big smile he gave them only made Athena dread what was to come.

It wasn't the most pleasant of conversations, Janey did the bulk of the talking while Athena awkwardly stood by and occasionally speaking up and elaborating a bit on why they were leaving and that no they weren't leaving HIM. Once they finished saying their piece, Pickle asked if he could be of any help, Janey of course jumped on the chance as Athena figured she would as soon as he asked, she understood enough on why and that night he came home with them as they ate microwaved meals while they planned on what they would need to leave Elpis.

Once he was asleep on their couch, Athena and Janey settled down for bed themselves at least after Athena quadruple checked that every lock was intact and that weapons she had strategically stowed away within the apartment just in case was where they were and loaded.

She was anything if not prepared.

As she lay in the darkness, Janey's breathing soothing her nerves and the warmth her body gave off against her easing her soon into sleep. The last thing she remembered before she allowed herself into unconsciousness was Pickle's downcast eyes.

* * *

It took some time but Janey was able to built a rocket that, in her words, would safely get them down to Pandora as discreetly as possible, one of the unfortunate that one of the casualties of their plan though was the selling of the Emporium so they would have enough money for more of the delicate parts. Athena knows how much pride she had put into her shop, Janey was a business woman through and through and she silently vowed to make it up to her.

Their goodbye was hard, both Janey and Pickle crying and blubbering, Athena could feel the pulls of something deep underneath her chest, it took everything in her to not fight as hard to bury it.

Once down on the ground, Athena knew she was the one who needed to stay out of sight but Janey would be fine since none of the Crimsons Raiders or Lilith and Roland would recognize or even know who she is hopefully. It wasn't easy, but Athena was able to get a message through Ellie requesting for Scooter's help, who surprisingly seemed eager despite the last time they interacted Athena was more stabby.

With Scooter, he was able to to find them a nice, out of place location for them to settle in and even offer Janey a job since his garages all over Pandora were mostly just managed by him. How? Athena really didn't know or understand and she didn't care. Hollow Point, despite being mostly overrun with Bandits, Psychos and overall dirtbags, it was decent. The problem become apparent about a few months in, the money from Janey's job while generous it hardly covered everything. If anything were to happen that needed to cover costs, they would be screwed and it left them with a hard decision, Athena needed to start working to pull in money or eventually they would need to go on the run again and they couldn't afford that.

So she did odd jobs around Hollow Point, the bounty board was sparse and gave pocket change at best but it was all they had. And then Jack called.

How he found her, she didn't know and honestly it left her paranoid if they were compromised but she would put that aside for now because as she stared at the message on her Echo, she had to decide on something even harder.

She had told Janey it was a simple delivery job from one town to the next and back that would take two days max.

She believed her which made Athena feel scummy, but it was all for that money Jack would promise her that would help them keep living in their new home and eventually get Pickle down with them, and that's what she told herself all the way up to Helios and having to face her former comrades and all through the mission.

This was for Janey, this was for Pickle, this was needed.

Athena wasn't dumb, she knew that the money wouldn't last, even if it was a good sum but things happened and their expenses could be depleted before they even know it. So while she did take up simple delivery jobs, they were a lot but they paid little, it gave her the cover for her more reputable jobs that paid more. She hated lying to Janey, hated that she wasn't able to keep her promise but they needed the money, they had come to far for everything to get ripped from them just because they couldn't afford to pay for rent.

Besides, she was careful. Thee was no way she would repeat her mistakes and bite off more than she can chew.

* * *

Athena really needed to stop tempting fate, she thought once that Pickle was with them that things would be perfectly fine.

Of course Jack would decide to go all Dictator mode at the best of times and try to "civilize" Pandora, whatever that meant. The more she heard about Hyperion forces running around or near Hollow Point, the more nervous she got, it wasn't like Jack was out to get her because unfortunately he seemed less murderous and more impressed by her which was probably worse. But what if he did find her, would he try and recruit her again, blackmail her or led the Crimsons Raiders to her? There were too many variables to this and she hated it.

And if things did go bad where they needed to run, Athena wasn't sure she could protect them all. She was fine on her own, she could keep Janey safe because she knew Janey could fight back just as hard but with Pickle, sure she helped teach him to shoot and some basic self-defense but Lilith and her cronies were unpredictable, would they hold back if they had a kid with them?

As Hyperion forces drove back the Crimson Raiders back and Roland sent out that message throughout Pandora about Sanctuary, Athena knew and Janey knew. They couldn't keep Pickle safe, they could hope and believe that nothing would happen and Hollow Point would remain untouched but they knew.

This talk wasn't as hard as the first one where they had to leave him on Elpis, maybe he just understood more or that fact that even though they'll be separated, with Scooter they now had an easier way to stay in contact so with everything going down with Hyperion and the new Vault Hunters. It put their minds at ease and it worked, even after Jack's death, Pickle stayed up in Sanctuary and Athena and Janey through Scooter would send up money to him; so far it was working.

So it was only natural that it would all fall apart because Athena was an idiot and thought a simple job of being a mentor would work out, but no she just had to overachieve and got greedy.

Janey was going to kill, except now it looked like Lilith would do it as her soldiers aimed their guns at her.

As she finished telling the Elpis story, she saw movement a little bit a ways from behind the firing squad. Hidden by the concrete wall near the Catch-A-Ride garage, she could see Pickle peering out from the corner.

While Lilith was distracted arguing with Brick and Mordecai, she could see the pistol in his hands and it looked like he was about to run over but he caught her eye before he could even move. She leveled a look at him and watched as him dropped to the ground, Athena tried not to think about those echologs she heard and how she was putting him through losing even more family right in front of him.

She really hope he didn't look when they fired.

Of course with her weird luck if she could even call it that, the alien that had been up at Elpus stopped her execution. Pickle didn't witness her inevitable death in a place that he considered safe and a home, Janey was mad but more relieved she didn't find her dead.

Athena really needed to stop tempting fate.

So now she was stuck in Sanctuary, they still had their home in Hollow Point because Athena wasn't gonna let them completely move their entire lives, they worked hard to carve a piece of themselves and she was determined to keep it. But the circumstances call for her to stay in the flying city for important matters, at least she wasn't alone. From where she sat in the garage office of the Catch of Ride in Sanctuary, Athena could see Janey tickering with an old Maliwan laser, adamant that she could get it to work down here on Pandora since the atmosphere made laser weapons pretty much unusable.

Right as Janey wedged out the elemental system out of the gun, Pickle came barreling down the stairs and jumped through the office doorway, "Athena, you gotta hide me! All the good places are too obvious!"

Athena blinked slowly, her face remained calm but she could feel her smirk ever so slightly before she pointed to the desk she had her feet propped up on. "If you hide here, no one will probably come near me."

Pickle jumped up excited and ducked under the desk, "Ah brilliant! Thanks, Athena!"

A few seconds passed when, of course, Axton came around the front of the garage, looking any any which way which was dumb considering a big part of that area was just the edge of the city where they were miles above the ground. He made his way inside, stopping a second to say hi to Janey who just raised her arm in acknowledgment.

He jogged over to her, stopping to lean at the doorway, Athena could feel Pickle grab her ankle to steady himself.

"Yo, Athena! Haven't seen Pickle have you, I'm IT and I definitely saw him go somewhere this way."

Pickle pressed himself against her leg, she signaled to him to keep quiet, "I saw him out in the front but head towards Moxxi's."

"Awesome! Thanks, bestie!"

"Stop saying that, please."

Athena watched as Axton raced out of the garage and waited a few seconds before having Pickle come out from under the desk..

"So, how do you know when you win?"

"Axton said until he orders a drink from Moxx so I think my chances are high!" She snorted, Axton was determined but also kind of a flake if you didn't keep up on him or there wasn't a reward.

Athena ruffled his hair, peering over at Janey who just finished putting the laser back together and was testing it out, shots of Incendiary rounds hit the target she had set up off to the side and it caught on fire instantly.

Janey nearly dropped the laser weapon as she jumped up excitedly, "TOLD YOU I COULD GET IT TO WORK."


	3. Gaige

Sanctuary wasn't exactly Janey's favorite place, it had it's parts that she could appreciate, but she was mostly just defensive whenever Athena and her had to visit.

Well, visit was a strong word, more like forced obligation.

The place wouldn't be so bad, if she could get the whole "it's a flying hunk of rock in the god damn sky" out of her mind, so far she just stuck to avoiding the edges and pretending. She never appreciated solid ground more than ever, even thinking about Elpis's low gravity and moon-jumping started making her stomach drop.

Janey leaned back on the office chair, probably the only chair in Scooter's old garage, and wishing she had brought something to do. Apparently there had been some things going on that the other Vault Hunters had found, some weird symbols and propaganda on other planets of some cult. Cults weren't a new thing, Pandora had its fair share but the fact that it's been on multiple planets was troubling and so far, made the meetings with the Crimson Raiders a lot longer and Janey has never been more bored.

She would waste away the time in Moxxi's bar and while they have come to some form of a friendship after everything, that didn't' mean Janey didn't stop acting stupid around extremely attractive women. She loved Athena, she was her wife and she couldn't be happier, but Moxxi was still smoking hot; and Janey knew on some level Athena agreed even though her comments mostly boiled down to "she is… pretty", she'll get her to admit it one day.

Moxxi aside, Hammerlock and Maya were nice.

They weren't weird like that Salvador guy or Zed, Axton was nice but he was also… too much of a dude bro if that made any sense; and as much as she liked Claptrap, Janey could only take so much before she needed to take a nap.

She liked him she really did, but boy was he exhausting.

Out of anyone though, Janey thinks she liked Gaige the most; she was energetic, funny and brilliant. Honestly, she reminded a lot of herself when she was younger, except for the whole cutting off her own arm part. That's more extreme than Janey could ever think to do, I mean, she did build a rocket, but she didn't cut off any of her limbs for it.

Another day, another long ass amount of time that Janey wish Athena was here and not cooped up in that building. She knew it was important, but all Janey wanted was her wife, except she was sitting alone by herself in the Catch-A-Ride garage, trying not to fall asleep and failing.

She must have dozed off because when door up on the walkway slammed open, Janey nearly fell out of her chair. Luckily, whoever must of come in was blocked from her flailing as she righted herself since the office walls gave her some cover. By the time, whoever made it down the stairs, Janey was past her almost embarrassment and was pretending to be busy by twirling the lucky spanner Athena bought for her in her hand.

"Hey Janey!" Oh it was Gaige.

"Hey girlie! How are you, meeting all done?"

"No, just bored so I left." Gaige hopped up on the desk, avoiding any of the junk still left over from before. "I'll get filled in by Maya, Athena is still stuck in there by the way."

Janey sighed, figures.

Nothing was said after that, which was surprising, usually Gaige had plenty to say even when there wasn't anything going on. She always had something on her mind, something about how her mind moves 100 miles an second and voicing them helped calm her brain down.

"Hey Janey, can I ask you something?" Gaige's voice was so soft and solemn, Janey almost missed what she said.

"Yeah, sure. What is it?"

What followed was a moment of silence as Gaige twisted and squirm, open her mouth and stopping herself from speaking. It was all very bizarre, well bizarre for Gaige at least.

Until finally, "Um I just wanted to know when if you ever like figured out, like how...", the rest of what Gaige was tried to say was whispered so softly that Janey couldn't make it out at all.

"Uh sorry, what was that?"

Gaige winced, running her hands down her face before softly repeating herself. "When did you know you liked girls?"

Oh.

OH!

This was not what she was expecting, but not something Janey would shy away from, holy hell. Athena owes her money now and dinner.

Sitting up in her seat, Janey removed her headband and ruffled her hair a bit. "Well, I guess pretty early on when I was a kid. Though it was harder to get the picture then but, whenever I would hear girls my age talk about the boys they like, it never really fit with me, y'know?" She stared out of the open garage doors, the open skyline not making her nervous and giving her a sense of ease instead.

"I thought it was something that would eventually just happen to me, like growing up into it. But it never did. All those gooey words and feelings they would talk about, I never had those for any boys, but I did have them, just they were for other girls." Janey glanced down at her hand, eyeing the wedding band on her finger, rubbing the moonstone gem embedded into it.

"The only reason why it took so long for me to realize it was because I was always feeling that way towards other girls. I thought it was normal, and it was." Janey sighed. "Getting back to that normal feeling took awhile, but I got there. And I never been happier. But I wish dudes would stop hitting on me." Janey scoffed, putting her headband back on, stretching and leaning back on her chair.

Gaige laughed. "Yeah, just let Athena hit on them. Literally."

"Oh believe me, she has."

They both shared a laugh and Janey couldn't help but think about the weird circumstances of how she ended up with her now wife. It was so strange how basically getting stranded on Elpis at a young age led to meeting the love of her life when she crash landed, next to all the other weird stuff, now they were here. Married to each other.

Funny how things worked out.

But first.

"So, who's the lucky girl?"

Gaige's pained face made Janey realize maybe she said the wrong thing, tugging at the hair and sighing "She's… well, that's the thing. She's kind of dead…"

Oh shit.

"Do you know how Handsome Jack had a daughter? Well, when we were like doing our thing, she was helping us while also working with him, before she asked us to kill her." "Like at the time, too many things were going on for me to really dig into it, but I did think Angel was really pretty."

Gaige slide off the desk and crouched down, curling up into a ball. "I mean, I didn't tell anyone else about this. But during the downtimes, Angel and me would echo each other, just like these small little talks and that's all I can remember." She sighed. "That and her screams when we were killing her."

Gaige picked at the loose threads of her skirt. "I don't know, it just bums me out." She looked up at Janey. "I mean, to figure this all out after she died. Is it wrong that I feel like this, not because Angel was a girl, the whole we basically killed her and being sad that I can't do anything about these feelings because she's dead part, I mean?"

Janey would be lying if she said that she didn't understand.

For awhile after Steph's death, while plenty of time had passed and she had gotten to the point where she could find herself interested in other women, it didn't stop the nagging feeling in the back of her head that she was betraying her memory. That every time she would flirt or basically do anything for another woman's attention, that somehow this was wrong and she was basically cheating on Steph despite knowing she was long gone. It wasn't something she brought up, especially to herself, even when she found herself falling more and more in love with Athena, she still struggled with those thoughts. Maybe it's not the same thing, but feeling like your violating a memory with your own personal feelings, it wasn't hard to relate a bit.

"No, you're good. You're not violating Angel's memory or the memories you had of her, you just realized something else now that you do and you're allowed to be sad that something so horrible happened regret something that you wish had happened, could've if she lived." Janey ruffled Gaige's already messy hair. "I'm sure Angel wouldn't want you sulking over something like this, if anything I bet she would be flattered cause you're a brilliant and amazing kid."

The young girl, well woman now, smiled and sprang up to her feet and gave the junker a big hug. "Thank Janey."

She squeezed back. "No problem, sweetheart."

Janey watched as Gaige ran off, listening to the door slam behind her, Sanctuary may not be her favorite place but kids like Gaige and folks like that Hammerlock guy sure make it feel less hostile. It was about another hour when Athena found her lounging in the office, busy taking apart an old radio for fun. "Oh you're all finished?"

Athena leaned over and kissed her. "Yeah, sorry it took so long. How are you?"

She pushed the remaining parts of the radio to the side, grabbing Athena's hand and leading her out of the garage. "I'm all good. Y'know, Gaige is a good kid."

Janey could feel Athena entwine their fingers together as they walked back to the fast travel station. "Oh, are you the reason she hugged me when I ran into her and called me one of her favorite lesbians?"

"I better be the other favorite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Dialogue is the bane of my existence. I apologize for the lack of quality on this, I really struggled on this chapter so if you see mistakes, please let me know. My brain is gone lol


End file.
